Two days later, the variety show officially began filming. Wang Xiaohua made sure to introduce Qilin to the regular cast members beforehand to avoid any awkwardness during the recording. Thanks to Hua Jie’s extensive connections, she knew almost all the regular members, and those she didn’t know were at least familiar with her.
Qilin couldn’t help but feel that the other cast members were looking at him with a hint of envy. He wasn’t sure if they envied him for having Hua Jie as his agent or for his good looks.
At 8 PM, with his makeup done, Qilin waited in the actors' passage for his ‘grand entrance’. He didn’t expect that his first variety show recording would require him to stay up all night. However, this was unavoidable since they were filming at Nanhai Riyue Plaza, a large shopping center. The center needed to be open for business during the day, so the crew could only use it at night.
Once everything was ready, the filming began!
“Hello, we are ‘Running Brothers!’” The camera started rolling as Captain Deng led the regular members in greeting the audience.
Captain Deng was a veteran actor whose acting skills fluctuated but was well-liked in the industry and had a humorous persona on social media. The audience adored him.
After each of the seven regular members introduced themselves, Captain Deng said, “Hey, something’s off today. Why are we filming in such an empty place? Where’s the guest? Is there no guest today?”
Li Heiniu looked around and said, “No way, there must be one.”
As he spoke, his eyes landed on a few large gift boxes nearby. He walked over and opened one of the boxes.
“Tada! The guest is here!” The camera followed Li Heiniu’s perspective to reveal a woman crouched inside the gift box. She slowly stood up at the sound of Li Heiniu’s voice.
The surrounding cast members feigned exaggerated surprise, shouting and making a fuss, much to the audience’s amusement.
“It’s Wang Li! Wang Li!”
“Wow, a goddess!”
“Wang Li! The beautiful you will be protected by me!”
As soon as Li Heiniu helped Wang Li out of the box, Chen Tiancai rushed over, grabbing her hand to perform a gallant kiss, only to be comically thwarted by Heiniu.
Wang Xiaolan approached the tallest gift box, exclaiming, “Wow! This box is so big; the guest inside must be huge!”
He attempted to open the box but couldn’t reach the ribbon, drawing laughter from everyone around.
At that moment, a fist suddenly punched through the box, ripping it open from the inside. Qilin emerged, striding out with confidence.
“Wow! It’s Qilin! Qilin!”
“This looks are no joke!”
“Don’t come near me! I don’t want to stand next to you; go find Wang Shu!”
As Qilin approached Wang Xiaolan for a handshake, he was playfully pushed away. “No, I hate standing next to handsome guys; I don’t want to be the backdrop!”
Feeling a bit awkward, Qilin turned towards Li Heiniu and the others, only to see them backing away as well. For every step Qilin took, they took one back, making the director’s team laugh.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Qilin was relieved when Captain Deng came to the rescue, giving him a hug and patting his shoulder. “Welcome, welcome, Qilin!”
The director’s team noted that Qilin was nearly a head taller than Captain Deng!
The last gift box revealed Lin Xin, an old guest of the show. Upon seeing him, the cast jokingly tried to stuff him back inside.
“It must be a mistake!”
“It must be an illusion!”
“Begone, ghosts and goblins!”
The cast’s antics made Qilin laugh, finally understanding what Hua Jie meant by "variety show sense."
After some playful banter, they warmly welcomed Lin Xin. The director then announced the task for the day: the seven regulars and three guests would be divided into two teams. Their mission was to find a password hidden in the mall.
Once the task was announced, a security alarm sounded, and the mall’s shutters began to descend, startling the cast.
“Wow, this is so intense!”
“Yeah, it feels like we’re in a movie!”
“So how are we splitting up? Is the director assigning teams?”
Amidst the chatter, Qilin felt a bit out of place, struggling to get a word in. Noticing this, Captain Deng pulled Qilin over, making sure to include him and joked, “In two seasons, the only person who can compete with me in looks is Qilin here!”
Deng smiled, wrapping an arm around Qilin’s shoulders. “I heard you’ve been acting in movies recently. I’ll definitely support you at the cinema. How will you repay me?”
Qilin was taken aback by Deng’s kindness and stammered, “Uh, I’ll treat you to dinner?”
“Ha, deal!” Deng laughed, agreeing readily. The director then handed out the team lists.
Captain Deng, Li Heiniu, Wang Li, Lin Xin, and Chen Tiancai were on one team. Qilin, Yang Baobei, Wang Shu, Wang Xiaolan, and Zheng Liebao formed the other team, with Yang Baobei as their captain.
With teams sorted, the director announced the first task: find the most expensive item in the mall! This item would have a password on it. While searching, they had to protect their name tags. If their name tag was ripped off, they’d be eliminated until the next round.
As the task began, Wang Xiaolan pondered, “What’s the most expensive thing in the mall? Probably electronics, right? High-end TVs and fridges cost thousands.”
Yang Baobei shook her head, “No, I think it’s fashion. High-end boutiques have items worth tens of thousands.”
Zheng Liebao was already stretching, “Hey, I think we should start moving and look around!”
Wang Shu, concerned about Qilin’s silence and lack of screen time, asked him, “Qilin, what do you think?”
Qilin, with a peculiar expression, replied, “It’s a watch.”
“A watch?”
“How do you know?”
“Is there a watch store here?”
Everyone was curious. Qilin, looking more certain, nodded, “Yes, because I came here two days ago…”
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